Branch connection accessory for fitting at a junction between two lengths of trunking

ABSTRACT

A branch connection accessory for establishing a connection between first trunking which is fixed to a vertical support and second trunking which rests on a horizontal support includes a closure plate for closing the first trunking provided at its base with a communication opening to establish communication between the respective interior spaces of the first trunking and the second trunking. The communication opening is delimited laterally by legs each having at least one removable portion so that the height of the communication opening can be adapted to the relative position of the first trunking and the second trunking. A connection accessory is attached to the closure plate to close the communication opening from the outside and includes a canopy adapted to cover locally a closure cover section of the second trunking.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a branch connection accessoryadapted to make the connection between first trunking which is fixed toa vertical support and second trunking which rests on a horizontalsupport.

[0003] The first trunking can be a molding or a baseboard and the secondtrunking is generally of the kind which passes through a floor. However,the second trunking could equally well be fixed to a ceiling.

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] One prior art branch connection accessory of the above kindincludes a closure plate for the first trunking which has at its base anopening to establish communication between the interior spaces of thefirst and second trunking and a canopy extending horizontally from thatopening adapted to cover locally the closure cover section of the secondtrunking.

[0006] The main drawback of the above kind of branch connectionaccessory is that the opening provided at the base of the closure platehas a fixed height because the canopy is formed in one piece with theclosure plate. This kind of closure plate can therefore not be adaptedto suit different trunking configurations and in particular cannot beadapted to suit different relative positions of the first and secondtrunking.

[0007] To comply with applicable safety standards in respect ofelectrical installations it is sometimes necessary for the firsttrunking, which is intended to be fixed to a vertical support, to reston means for raising it so that it is at a particular distance from thefloor.

[0008] This is the case when the trunking is intended to routeelectrical conductors having a conductive core surrounded by a singleinsulative sheath.

[0009] On the other hand, the first trunking can be positioned near thefloor, without using means for raising it, if it is intended for routingdouble-insulated electrical cables.

[0010] Thus in an electrical installation adjacent vertical andhorizontal trunking can have two different relative positions, a “closetogether” position when the vertical trunking does not rest on raisingmeans and a “far apart” position when raising means are used.

[0011] At present it is necessary to provide a specific branchconnection accessory to make the connection between the vertical andhorizontal trunking for each of the relative positions described above.

[0012] Using two different branch connection accessories adds to thecost of an electrical installation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] To remedy the above drawback, the present invention proposes abranch connection accessory for establishing a connection between firsttrunking which is fixed to a vertical support and second trunking whichrests on a horizontal support, the accessory including a closure platefor closing the first trunking provided at its base with a communicationopening to establish communication between the respective interiorspaces of the first trunking and the second trunking, whichcommunication opening is delimited laterally by legs each having atleast one removable portion so that the height of the communicationopening can be adapted to the relative position of the first trunkingand the second trunking, in which branch connection accessory aconnection accessory is attached to the closure plate to close thecommunication opening from the outside and includes a canopy adapted tocover locally a closure cover section of the second trunking.

[0014] Accordingly, by removing one or more removable portions of thelegs laterally delimiting the communication opening of the closure plateof the branch connection accessory according to the invention the heightof the communication opening can be adapted to suit the relativeposition of the vertical and horizontal trunking and in particular theheight of the opening can be adjusted so that the cross-section area ofthe connection between the vertical and horizontal trunking remainsconstant, whether or not raising means are used when installing thefirst trunking.

[0015] Thanks to the invention, it is then no longer necessary toprovide specific branch connection accessories for different relativepositions of the vertical and horizontal trunking. Instead a singleaccessory is sufficient and is adapted as required by the installer.

[0016] According to one particularly advantageous feature of the branchconnection accessory according to the invention the communicationopening of the closure plate has a horizontal top edge with verticalslideways at its ends for slidably mounting the connection accessory.

[0017] This has the advantage that the same connection accessory can beused for different heights of the communication opening in the closureplate, and can be mounted blind by sliding it in the two verticalslideways on the closure plate. It is therefore always correctlypositioned facing the communication opening to close it correctly.

[0018] The two vertical slideways facilitate mounting the connectionaccessory on the closure plate, which saves time for the installer.

[0019] According to another advantageous feature of the branchconnection accessory according to the invention it has a horizontal rimon the horizontal top edge of the communication opening of the closureplate to provide a connection between the vertical slideways and form asupport for the connection accessory.

[0020] Other non-limiting advantageous features of the branch connectionaccessory according to the invention are as follows:

[0021] each leg delimiting laterally the communication opening of theclosure plate includes a plurality of removable portions;

[0022] the closure plate has attachment means on its rear face forattaching it to a base section of the first trunking;

[0023] the attachment means include a hook near the top edge of theclosure plate which hooks onto the base section of the first trunking;

[0024] the attachment means include a hook on the rear face of each legof the closure plate;

[0025] the closure plate has in its upper part at least one removableportion so that its height can be adapted to suit the width of the firsttrunking and the removable portion or each removable portion has on itsrear face near a line of weakness attachment means for attaching it to abase section of the first trunking; the attachment means can include anupwardly-oriented hook;

[0026] the closure plate has a plurality of vertical walls on its rearface spanning the top edge of the communication opening, oriented at 90degrees to the plane of the rear face and delimiting between them ductsinto which mutually-isolated electrical conductors or cables areinserted;

[0027] the connection accessory has a plurality of vertical walls on arear face facing toward the communication opening, oriented transverselyto the plane of the opening and delimiting between them ducts into whichmutually-isolated electrical conductors or cables are inserted;

[0028] the closure plate has top and bottom edges that cover part oflateral flanges of a base section of the first trunking;

[0029] the closure plate has upstanding lateral edges; and

[0030] the closure plate and the connection accessory are each molded inone piece from plastics material.

[0031] The following description, which is given with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which are provided by way of non-limitingexample, explains in what the invention consists and how it can be putinto effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032]FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively rear and front views of a closureplate of a first embodiment of a branch connection accessory accordingto the invention.

[0033]FIG. 3 is a three-quarter perspective view of the first embodimentof the branch connection accessory according to the invention installedat the junction between two lengths of trunking when the first length oftrunking rests on raising means.

[0034]FIG. 4 is a three-quarter perspective view of the branchconnection accessory shown in FIG. 3 installed at the junction betweentwo lengths of trunking when the first length of trunking does not reston raising means.

[0035]FIG. 5 is a three-quarter perspective view of the branchconnection accessory shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 whose closure plate has beenadapted to suit narrow trunking positioned near the floor with noraising means.

[0036]FIGS. 6 and 7 are respectively front and rear views of a secondembodiment of a branch connection accessory according to the invention.

[0037]FIG. 8 is a front view of a third embodiment of a branchconnection accessory according to the invention fitted to first trunkingresting on raising means.

[0038]FIG. 9 is a front view of the closure plate of the branchconnection accessory shown in FIG. 8.

[0039]FIG. 10 is a rear view of the closure plate shown in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0040] Note first that identical or similar components of the variousembodiments of the invention are as far as possible identified by thesame reference symbols in each figure and are not described again eachtime.

[0041]FIGS. 1 and 2 show a closure plate 100 of a first embodiment of abranch connection accessory intended to make the connection betweenfirst trunking 10 and second trunking 20 (see FIGS. 3 to 5). The firsttrunking 10 is fixed to a vertical support and the second trunking 20rests on a horizontal support.

[0042] In this example the first trunking 10 can be a baseboard or amolding and the second trunking 20 can be of the kind which passesthrough a floor.

[0043] In this first embodiment the closure plate 100 is generallyrectangular with a straight edge and is provided at its base with anopening 110 providing communication between the interior spaces of thefirst 10 trunking and the second trunking 20 (see FIGS. 3 to 5).

[0044] One advantageous feature of the closure plate 100 shown in FIGS.1 and 2 is that the communication opening 110 is delimited by a tophorizontal edge and laterally by legs 111, 112 featuring a plurality ofremovable portions 111 a, 112 a separated from each other by lines ofweakness 111′a, 112′a so that the height H of the communication opening110 can be adapted to suit the relative position of the first trunking10 and the second trunking 20.

[0045] A horizontal rim 113 on the front face of the closure plate 100and along the horizontal top edge of its communication opening 110 hasat its ends vertical slideways 115 for slidably mounting a connectionaccessory 200 adapted to be attached to said closure plate 100 to closesaid communication opening 110. The connection accessory includes acanopy 210 adapted to cover locally the closure cover section 21 of thesecond trunking 20.

[0046] The connection accessory 200 is part of the branch connectionaccessory according to the invention described and shown in the figures.

[0047] The vertical slideways 115 are formed in blocks 114 that extendvertically from the horizontal rim 113. The blocks 114 have at theirfree end notches 116 in which upper ends of vertical ribs near the freeedges of the base section of the trunking 20 that passes through thefloor can engage when the communication opening 110 has a minimum heightH (see FIG. 5 in particular).

[0048] Accordingly, for narrow vertical trunking 10, as shown in FIG. 5,and when no raising means are used, the ribs on the base section of thetrunking 20 passing through the floor do not interfere with the ends ofthe blocks 114 in which the vertical slideways 115 of the closure plateare formed.

[0049] The closure plate 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 advantageously hason its rear face means for attaching it to the base section of the firsttrunking 10.

[0050] In this example the attachment means include twoupwardly-oriented hooks 121 near the top edge of the closure plate 100and a downwardly-oriented hook 123 in the upper part of each leg 111,112.

[0051] The hooks 121 cooperate elastically with the outside wall of therim 11 a of the top lateral flange 11 of the base section of the firsttrunking 10. The hooks 123 clip into a groove formed in the rim 12 a ofthe bottom lateral flange 12 of the base section of the first trunking10.

[0052] In the embodiment shown the upper part of the closure plate 100includes a plurality of removable portions 120 which are separated fromeach other by lines of weakness 122 so that its height can be adapted tosuit the width of the first trunking 10 to which it is attached.

[0053] Each removable portion 120 has on its rear face near a line ofweakness 122 means for attaching it to the base section of the firsttrunking 10, in this example two spaced upwardly-oriented hooks 121which attach to the rim 11 a of a top lateral flange 11 of the basesection of the trunking 10, as already explained.

[0054] Accordingly, by removing one or more of the removable portions120 of the closure plate 100 its height can be adapted to close narrowtrunking, as shown in FIG. 5, or its full height can be used to closewide trunking (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

[0055] The closure plate 100 is advantageously molded in one piece froma plastics material.

[0056] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 the connection accessory200 has a roof that caps the communication opening 110 of the closureplate 100 and a part extending substantially horizontally from the roofand forming a canopy 210 covering part of the closure cover section 21of the trunking 20 that passes through the floor.

[0057] The rear face of the canopy of the connection accessory 200 facestoward the communication opening 110 and includes a plurality ofvertical walls 201, 202, 203 oriented transversely to the plane of thecommunication opening 110 and delimiting between them ducts into whichmutually-isolated electrical conductors or cables are inserted.

[0058] It may be necessary to isolate electrical conductors or cablescarrying high currents from electrical conductors or cables carrying lowcurrents. This is achieved by the vertical walls 201, 202, 203 of theconnection accessory 200.

[0059] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the connection accessory200 advantageously remains exactly the same, regardless of the height ofthe communication opening 110 of the closure plate 100 or the height ofthe closure plate 100 itself, and is easily positioned facing thecommunication opening 110 because it is slidably mounted in the verticalslideways 115 on the closure plate 100.

[0060] In only one case, when the first trunking 10 rests on raisingmeans (see FIG. 3), the top edge of the roof of the connection accessory200 rests on the horizontal rim 113 at the top edge of the communicationopening 110, the rim 113 then forming a support for the connectionaccessory 200.

[0061] The connection accessory 200 is advantageously molded in onepiece from a plastics material.

[0062]FIGS. 3 and 4 show the use of the closure plate 100 associatedwith the connection accessory 200 of the branch connection accessory fortwo different relative positions of the first trunking 10 and the secondtrunking 20.

[0063] In FIG. 3, the first trunking 10 rests on raising means (notshown) so that it is at a particular distance from the floor andtherefore from the trunking 20 that passes through the floor and restson the floor.

[0064] In this case, the communication opening 110 of the closure platehas a large height H. Only the end removable portions 111 a, 112 a ofthe lateral legs 111, 112 delimiting the communication opening 110 havebeen removed, to maintain a particular cross-section area for thecommunication between the interior spaces of the vertical first trunking10 resting on the raising means and the trunking 20 that passes throughthe floor.

[0065] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, a concealing member 30 ispositioned under the vertical first trunking 10 to close the unused partof the communication opening 110 in the closure plate 100.

[0066] In the situation shown in FIG. 4 the first trunking 10 isidentical to that shown in FIG. 3 but does not rest on raising means.Its bottom lateral flange 12 is therefore near the floor.

[0067] In this case the height H of the communication opening 110 of theclosure plate is reduced by removing a plurality of the removableportions 111 a, 112 a of the lateral legs 111, 112 so that thecross-section area of the communication between the interior spaces ofthe first trunking and the second trunking is virtually identical tothat provided in the configuration shown in FIG. 3.

[0068] Finally, FIG. 5 shows the use of the closure plate 100 of thebranch connection accessory shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with narrow firsttrunking 10 near the floor, i.e. not resting on raising means.

[0069] In this case, the removable portions 111 a, 112 a of the laterallegs 111, 112 delimiting the communication opening 110 have been removedto minimize the height of the communication opening 110 and maintain across-`section area of the communication between the respective interiorspaces of the trunking that is virtually identical to that of FIGS. 3and 4. The removable portions 120 of the closure plate 100 have alsobeen removed to adapt its height to suit the narrow width of thetrunking.

[0070] As previously explained, in this case notches 116 at the end ofthe blocks 114 in which are formed the vertical slideways 115 formounting the connecting accessory 200 advantageously form cut-outs forthe free ends of vertical ribs near longitudinal edges of the basesection of the trunking 20 that passes through the floor.

[0071]FIGS. 6 and 7 show a second embodiment of the branch connectionaccessory according to the invention in which the closure plate 100 hastop and bottom edges 131, 132 which cover part of the lateral flanges ofthe base section of the first trunking 10.

[0072] This kind of closure plate 100 is advantageously used forbaseboards with a rounded or domed enveloping or covering cover section(not shown).

[0073] The closure plate 100 also has upstanding lateral edges 132 whichcan adapt to the external shape of the enveloping cover section of thebaseboard.

[0074] For attaching it to the base section of the first trunking, theclosure plate 100 incorporates two downwardly-oriented hooks 121 nearits top edge 131 which hook onto external beads or rims provided on thelateral flange of the base section of the trunking.

[0075] In this case, as shown in FIG. 6 in particular, the lateral legs111, 112 delimiting the communication opening 110 have removableportions 112 a, 111 a under the enveloping bottom edge 132 of theclosure plate 100.

[0076] Three vertical walls 101, 102, 103 on the rear face of theclosure plate 100 span the top edge of the communication opening 110.They are oriented at 90 degrees to the plane of the rear face anddelimit between them ducts into which mutually-isolated electricalconductors or cables are inserted.

[0077] The vertical walls 101, 102, 103 come into correspondingrelationship with the vertical walls 201, 202, 203 of the connectionaccessory 200 closing the communication opening 110 to extend the ductsinto which the mutually-isolated electrical conductors or cables areinserted.

[0078] The heights of the vertical walls 101, 102, 103 on the closureplate can also be adapted to suit the height of the communicationopening 110. To this end they are formed by at least two removableportions separated by lines of weakness 101′, 102′, 103′.

[0079] FIGS. 8 to 10 show a third embodiment of the branch connectionaccessory according to the invention in which the closure plate 100 hastop and bottom edges 131, 132 covering the lateral flanges 11, 12 of amolding 10, the closure plate being more particularly suited to amolding 10 which, with its cover section 13, forms a rectangularparallelepiped.

[0080] The legs 111, 112 laterally delimiting the communication opening110 of the closure plate 100 also include removable portions 111 a, 112a separated by tongues 132 defining the bottom edge of the closure plate100 and serving as lines of weakness for removing them.

[0081] The closure plate 100 also has upstanding lateral edges 133forming straight rims with a part 133′ which is removable with thelateral legs 111, 112.

[0082] Finally, exactly as in the second embodiment, the closure plate100 has a plurality of spaced vertical walls 101, 102, 103 on its rearface spanning the top edge of the communication opening 110. They areoriented at 90 degrees to the plane of the opening and delimit betweenthem ducts for inserting mutually-isolated electrical conductors orcables.

[0083] The vertical walls 101, 102, 103 are formed by removable portionsseparated by lines of weakness 101′, 102′, 103′ so that their height canbe adapted to suit that of the communication opening 110.

[0084] Of course, the closure plates and connection accessories of thesecond and third embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 to 10 are eachadvantageously molded in one piece from a plastics material.

[0085] The present invention is in no way limited to the embodimentsdescribed and shown, variants of which conforming to the spirit of theinvention will readily suggest themselves to the skilled person.

There is claimed:
 1. A branch connection accessory for establishing aconnection between first trunking which is fixed to a vertical supportand second trunking which rests on a horizontal support, said accessoryincluding a closure plate for closing said first trunking provided atits base with a communication opening to establish communication betweenthe respective interior spaces of said first trunking and said secondtrunking, which communication opening is delimited laterally by legseach having at least one removable portion so that the height of saidcommunication opening can be adapted to the relative position of saidfirst trunking and said second trunking, in which branch connectionaccessory a connection accessory is attached to said closure plate toclose said communication opening from the outside and includes a canopyadapted to cover locally a closure cover section of said secondtrunking.
 2. The accessory claimed in claim 1 wherein said communicationopening of said closure plate has a horizontal top edge with verticalslideways at its ends for slidably mounting said connection accessory.3. The accessory claimed in claim 2 having a horizontal rim on thehorizontal top edge of said communication opening of said closure plateto provide a connection between said vertical slideways and form asupport for said connection accessory.
 4. The accessory claimed in claim1 wherein each leg delimiting laterally said communication opening ofsaid closure plate includes a plurality of removable portions.
 5. Theaccessory claimed in claim 1 wherein said closure plate has attachmentmeans on its rear face for attaching it to a base section of said firsttrunking.
 6. The accessory claimed in claim 5 wherein said attachmentmeans include a hook near the top edge of said closure plate which hooksonto said base section of said first trunking.
 7. The accessory claimedin claim 5 wherein said attachment means include a hook on the rear faceof each leg of said closure plate.
 8. The accessory claimed in claim 1wherein said closure plate has in its upper part at least one removableportion so that its height can be adapted to suit the width of saidfirst trunking and the removable portion or each removable portion hason its rear face near a line of weakness attachment means for attachingit to a base section of said first trunking.
 9. The accessory claimed inclaim 8 wherein said attachment means include an upwardly-oriented hook.10. The accessory claimed in claim 1 wherein said closure plate has aplurality of vertical walls on its rear face spanning the top edge ofsaid communication opening, oriented at 90 degrees to the plane of saidrear face and delimiting between them ducts into which mutually-isolatedelectrical conductors or cables are inserted.
 11. The accessory claimedin claim 1 wherein said connection accessory has a plurality of verticalwalls on a rear face facing toward said communication opening, orientedtransversely to the plane of said opening and delimiting between themducts into which mutually-isolated electrical conductors or cables areinserted.
 12. The accessory claimed in claim 1 wherein said closureplate has top and bottom edges that cover part of lateral flanges of abase section of said first trunking.
 13. The accessory claimed in claim12 wherein said closure plate has upstanding lateral edges.
 14. Theaccessory claimed in claim 1 wherein said closure plate and saidconnection accessory are each molded in one piece from plasticsmaterial.